The joint efforts of the CDFP consortium will increase customer choice, reduce end-user costs and ensure interoperability to allow the copper cable and fiber optics transceiver market to expand more rapidly.

The CDFP MSA participants are mutually committed to address industry needs by advancing technologies and providing products that are mechanically and electrically interchangeable. The consortium project scope will be to specify electrical interfaces, mechanical interfaces, and software interfaces, which may include optical connector and mating fiber optic cable plug, electrical connector, guide rail, front panel and host PCB layout requirements. Additionally, the CDFP MSA specification is expected to include thermal, electromagnetic and electrostatic discharge design recommendations, all significant factors when creating standards.

Requests for additional information, queries and interviews may be submitted at www.cdfp-msa.com.

CDFP MSA FOUNDING MEMBER COMMENTS

AVAGO
"Avago is pleased to work with other leading copper cable, optical module, and system companies to define an important 400 Gbps interface for next-generation interconnect applications."
--Philip Gadd, vice president and general manager, fiber optics division, Avago Technologies, Inc.

BROCADE
"Brocade is proud to be a founding member of the CDFP MSA that is open to many vendors who will help develop this new form factor. The CDFP standard will enable terabits/second of throughput on a standard faceplate."
--Scott G. Kipp, principal technologist, Office of the CTO, Brocade Communications

IBM
"The standardization of electrical and mechanical specifications will enable the mass adoption of the best available technology to meet future data center demands. By leveraging simplified connectors and blending existing current 100 Gbps technologies, the MSA will collectively establish a form factor to seamlessly transition the industry to 400 Gbps connectivity."
--Pravin Patel, senior technical staff member, IBM Master Inventor, IBM Corporation

JDSU
"Network bandwidth demand continues to explode so it's critical that we set a standard now for 400 Gbps client-side transceivers that will support next-generation optical interfaces. What will be most exciting about this new standard is that the 400 Gbps interface will have the flexibility to support different reaches across the network for maximum longevity and flexibility."
--Tom Fawcett, vice president of transmission marketing, CCOP business segment, JDSU

JUNIPER NETWORKS
"The formation of the CDFP MSA will advance 400 Gbps interconnect standards alignment in the networking industry across the vendor base and end users. By creating a common electro-mechanical definition, we will enable the networking industry to cost effectively adopt copper cabling and active optical cable (AOC) technology that can be used across all conforming switching and routing platforms."
--Jeffery J. Maki, distinguished engineer, Juniper Networks

MOLEX
"Addressing demand for high speed applications is a shared priority for our industry peers and many of our customers. We are committed to defining a winning form factor to enable widespread adoption. The collaboration will yield the selection of a robust mechanical interface and powerhouse performer with the densest high-speed 16-lane interface on the market, delivering 400 Gbps in a compact size."
--Scott Sommers, group product manager, Molex Incorporated

TE CONNECTIVITY
"With data center power consumption exceeding one percent of the total energy consumed in the world, thermal management has become a non-negotiable priority to our customers. That's why TE's work with the CDFP MSA consortium is more than just enabling systems to achieve higher speeds of 400 Gbps--it's about giving the market a higher density, higher speed product with excellent thermal performance."
--Nathan Tracy, CDFP chair, communications industry marketing, TE Connectivity